Ester took her smartphone out of her pocket to find out if the water hadn't damaged it. It was still on and working fine. There were no new missed calls. She found it weird but was also relieved her husband had stopped trying to call up to her. Maybe he would give up after all.

The place where they arrived was a roadside hotel. It didn't look like a popular place to spend the days and there was nothing to see around there, so it probably was just a pit-stop that travelers would make while in their journey. The place didn't seem to be full and movement around it was slow. She could hear and see the cars pa.s.sing through the roadway in front of her. Every vehicle that seemed to slow down or go in her direction made her heart skip in fear.

She calmed down when Hayley came back with a cheerful smile and spinning a key on her finger. Her wet hair, glued to her face, gave her a pretty look. Almost s.e.xy, she observed. The thought made her feel embarra.s.sed, so she looked at the floor, avoiding letting her friend see the red blush on her face.

"We got a room," Hayley said, showing the key to Ester.

"Nice," Ester said, slowly lifting her face to Hayley. "What about your clothes? Put on a show inside?"

"No, there was only an old woman inside. And I don't think she swings that way. She only gave me those 'these young people nowadays' reproving look. Well, she wasn't my type."

Ester chuckled, feeling her worries disappearing again.

"Do you even have a type? I don't remember you showing interest in anyone ever."

"Maybe you're blind, love," Hayley said and walked past Ester. "But let's go already. It's cold and I just want to take a hot shower for now."

"What about clothes?" Ester said, following Hayley.

"There's a heater inside, apparently. We can put ours to dry for now. Apparently there's a convenience store nearby. I'll try to look for something tomorrow morning," Hayley looked to the sky. It was late afternoon and the night would be almost there. "If you're hungry, the old woman said they offer dinner and lunch. If we pay, of course."

"I, I think I'm fine for today."

"Really? You didn't eat anything the whole afternoon, right?"

"Yeah, but I'm not hungry."

Hayley stopped to face her friend. Ester feared to let her friend worry and opened her mouth to speak again, but Hayley was faster.

"I see. I'm not hungry either, so that's fine."

"No, you can go…"

"I won't leave you alone, love."

Listening to her words, Ester felt her worries fade again. Truth is that she was scared of being left by herself now, in that place she knew nothing about. She didn't know if Colby was still after her.

Hayley turned to the door in front of them and put the key in the keyhole.

"Well, that's the place. Room 106."

She opened the door with a loud creaking and turned on the lights inside. Even if old, the room was clean. There was a television, a nightstand, a heater, a shower in another room and another detail that Ester was fast to realize.

"There's only one bed."

Only a big double bed was in the middle of the room. It was big enough for even three people sleep on it and looked tidy. Hayley stared at it and raised her hand to her cheek.

"Oh my, I did say I was with a friend. I wonder if she thought…I'll go back and see if there's any other room vacant."

"Oh no, it's fine," Ester said, walking inside. "It's big enough and we can share it. Unless you don't want to…"

"I don't mind if you're okay with it."

The two women smiled at each other in a silent agreement. Then, putting her purse on the nightstand, Hayley started to remove her s.h.i.+rt.

"We should take a bath now. Want to go first?"

"N-No. You can go."

"Are you sure?" Hayley turned to Ester without her s.h.i.+rt, making her realize how her friend had developed in all that time. Her b.r.e.a.s.t.s were bigger than Ester's and she was wearing a s.e.xy wine-colored bra with roses embroidery in it.

"Y-Yeah," Ester said. She tried to avoid her eyes but didn't resist it. The particles of water running through Hayley's pale skin were also a view of beauty.

Hayley put her s.h.i.+rt in front of the turned-on heater and removed her skirt, showing Ester her panties as pretty and with the same color and embroidery as the bra. She put the skirt together with the s.h.i.+rt and turned to her friend, with a smile and a hand on her waist.

"So? What do you think?"

"W-What?" Ester asked, astonished in the middle of the room. While appreciating Hayley's figure, she was taken by surprise.

"Did I pretty up after all that time?"

"Y-Yeah. You're, huh," Ester took a breath before continuing. "Really hot, if I have to say."

"Oh," Hayley spun her body playfully in front of Ester, giving her a full view of it. "Is that a pick-up line, miss?"

Ester chuckled and unconsciously bit her lower lip.

"That you're still single with all that is a mystery. It wasn't for lack of suitors, right?"

"Oh yeah. I had a lot of proposals from some co-workers, but who wants those nerds, right?"

"I don't know. I'm starting to think nerds are secretly really s.e.xy."

With a laugh, Hayley went inside the shower room bringing her backpack with her and closed the door. After some minutes, Ester started to hear the sound of water dripping from the shower.

She was still standing up in the middle of the room. She could sit on the bed, but then it would get wet. And she still felt reluctant to remove her clothes. She heard the cars' motors growling outside.

She started to get scared again. Feeling alone in that room, and the night was falling. She couldn't know what was going on outside. If something were to happen, would Hayley listen to her?

Her feet walked in the shower room's direction. She thought about knocking and call for her friend but stopped herself. The fear and uneasy made her start walking in circles, from one side to the next, trying to calm down. She thought about turning on the television, but more noise didn't sound better.

It took only a few minutes until Hayley came out of the shower, still wearing the same underwear since she didn't have anything else. Ester threw a scared look at her, but let out a relieved sigh when she realized it was her friend there. That didn't escape Hayley's attention.

"What happened, love?" Hayley asked, getting closer to Ester and touching her arm. Ester's usually darkened face was getting almost as pale as Hayley.

"I got a little nervous, that's all," she said with a sad smile.

"You know what I miss?" Hayley said suddenly with a serious face, making Ester look at her with curiosity. "Your smile."

"I'm still smiling," she said, forcing one to form on her face. But Hayley shook her head.

"No, it's not the same. Not the same as when we were younger. Those pretty smiles you would give me were real. No fake one like this."

"I," that conversation made Ester uncomfortable. She started looking to every side as if looking for a way out. "I think I need…"

"A bath?" Hayley asked, smiling.

"Yeah," Ester said but noticing something, she corrected herself: "I mean, no. Not a bath. Not now."

"You should, love," Hayley said, approaching Ester. "You were soaked by the rain. You could get a cold."

"I-I'm fine. I think I'll just sit over the heater…"

But Hayley grabbed Ester's arm. She was serious again. Ester looked at her startled.

"What's wrong, love? Are you ashamed of taking your clothes around me?"

"No, no!" Ester shook her head fast. "It's not that. I swear. It's not…"

As she said that, Ester backed off. She retracted her body against the wall to the opposite side of Hayley. Anyone seeing that scene would believe she was being threatened. The reaction made Hayley raise her eyebrows.

"Are you afraid of me?"

Ester shook her head in silence, but her eyes looked to the other side. Hayley walked to her and gently held both her wrists. Ester's body s.h.i.+vered with the gesture.

"Love, listen to me. If we're going to be together, we have to learn to trust each other. You understand?"

Ester nodded slowly. She was still avoiding to look directly at her friend.

"Let me help you with that," Hayley said, putting her hands on the bottom of Ester's s.h.i.+rt.

At first, Ester tried to stop her friend from removing her s.h.i.+rt, keeping her arms down. But after Hayley gently tried to pull the s.h.i.+rt up, she gave up, raising her arms and allowing the cloth to be pulled over her head. Hayley put her friend's s.h.i.+rt in front of the heater and looked at her.

She shut her eyes and let out a long sigh.

"He did this," Hayley said, still with her eyes shut.

"Uhu," Ester answered, trying to look away from her friend, feeling embarra.s.sed and ashamed.

She had a purple bruise on her right wrist and on her chest, just above her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. She felt like crying again as the bad memories flew through her mind but Hayley came to her and gave her a hug. Her friend's naked body against her, her warmth, that calmed her down.

When the two women separated, Hayley stared at her friend's body again. Just above her plain white bra was the huge mark of violence. Probably still sensible to the touch, just like in the wrist. Yet, it was very easy to cover.

Hayley held her friend's arm and planted a kiss where the bruise was.

"W-What," Ester said, blus.h.i.+ng with the gesture and her heartbeat shoot higher. "Why are you…?"

Hayley ignored her friend's surprise and her next question had a serious tone.

"Did he hurt you anywhere else?"

Ester nodded and instinctively, her hand grabbed her left thigh. Hayley realized it and helped her friend to unb.u.t.ton her jeans and pulled it gently. On the inner side of her left side another bruise. Another place hard to see. Hayley touched it with her fingers, making smooth movements on her friend's skin. The gentle and affable touch of Hayley's fingers were making Ester feel good. She wasn't touched like that in a long time.

Hayley lifted her eyes to meet Ester's face. Ester's eyes were starting to get wet with the tears welling in it. That gentle treatment made her remember what was denied to her in that marriage. And the memories of the pain came back.

Hayley's face got closer. Ester could feel her breath and smell her shampoo. She realized, surprised, that Hayley was brus.h.i.+ng her lips against hers. Her heartbeat jumped higher as she felt her friend's moist and warm skin. But she didn't try to escape. She stood there, receiving the love offered to her.

"Did you hate it?" Hayley asked in a murmur. There was a glint of fear in her eyes.

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"No," Ester said, shaking her head.

"So I'll continue," Hayley said and started to kiss her friend again, this time with no hesitation.

She hugged Hayley's back and when her friend's body reacted to it with a jump, she realized there was also a bruise over it and touching it brought her pain. Her touch became gentler and she pushed Ester to the bed. She lied beside her, kissing her mouth and caressing her body.

That was the first time in a long time Ester felt that good. The first time she was feeling pleasure with another person's touch instead of pain and fear. Hayley's touch was careful. Her skin was smooth and warm. Ester lifted her hand to pa.s.s over her friend's still humid hair.

"Ester, love, I…" Hayley's hand ran through Ester's whole body until she started pulling her friend's white panties off. "I have always loved you," she said as she started another kiss.